The Israeli military has denied responsibility for the deaths of at least 27 people near an aid distribution site in Gaza on Tuesday, marking the third such incident in as many days. The army says it fired only warning shots near individuals who strayed from a designated route and ignored orders to turn back.
According to Hisham Mhanna, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross, “its field hospital in Rafah received 184 wounded people, 19 of whom were declared dead on arrival and eight more who later died of their wounds.”
The Associated Press reports that the bodies of the 27 victims have since been transferred to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The Israeli military said it is still examining the reports of casualties. On Sunday and Monday, Israeli forces also fired at individuals near aid convoys; Palestinian health officials and witnesses say 34 people were killed in those incidents. Israel maintains that it did not target civilians or obstruct access to aid.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which oversees the aid operations, has stated there has been no violence at or near their distribution points. On Tuesday, the organization said the military was investigating whether civilians had been injured “after moving beyond the designated safe corridor and into a closed military zone,” emphasizing that the incident happened “well beyond our secure distribution site.”
All three shootings occurred near the Flag Roundabout, about one kilometre from a GHF distribution hub in the southern city of Rafah, now largely uninhabited.
The deadly encounters come amid a controversial shift in how aid is delivered in Gaza. A new Israeli- and US-backed system has created distribution sites within Israeli military zones. Israel claims the change is necessary to prevent Hamas from exploiting humanitarian supplies.
However, the United Nations has strongly criticized the system, arguing it does not effectively alleviate Gaza’s deepening hunger crisis. According to the UN, the setup enables Israel to “use aid as a weapon” and fails to address the core humanitarian needs of the population.
